Ward off the post Labor Day weekend blues with a little action this weekend.
Coast
Technically, the summer beach season ends Labor Day. At least that’s what the masses think. In fact, with the masses thinking that and the water temperature still summer-friendly (84.2 degrees as of this afternoon at Wrightsville Beach) it’s hard to imagine a better time to hit the coast: All you need is a reason. Saturday’s 9th Annual Longboard Classic, perhaps? You don’t actually need to compete on your Supertanker (12-feet plus in length), one of 11 categories of competition, you just come on out to the north end of Wrightsville Beach (Beach Access #4), wear your suit, wade in and enjoy the action. The action begins at 8:30 a.m.read more
We’d been on the water less than an hour when Marcy had a small epiphany regarding a work problem she’d been wrestling with. “I guess that’s why the boat’s called a ‘Perception,’” she said after sharing her breakthrough. Other good names for recreational kayaks: Insight. Enlightenment. Not-A-Thought-in-My-Brain.read more
For many of us, it’s the last weekend of summer before the kids head back to school. Act now, because once school and its various activities kick in, it could be a while before the clan has a free weekend of spend together.
Coast
I love exploring and I love a good map. But sometimes you get a hankering to go terra incognita; that is, to a spot on the map where trails are sparse and successful navigation depends upon your ability to use a map and a compass to get around. Good skills to have regardless, and skills you can pick up Sunday during an orienteering course at Lake Waccamaw State Park. If you have a compass, bring it, if you need one the park has a few loaners. Definitely bring bug spray, though. It’s an hour-long class, from 4-5 p.m.read more
For several months I’d been ruing the fact I hadn’t been in a kayak for, well, several months. I made up for my lapse over the weekend.
Saturday, Marcy and I went for a hike on the wild side of Lake Johnson. (That would be the nearly two miles of unpaved trail on the Raleigh lake’s west side.) As we crossed the footbridge toward the boathouse we took note of the $5-an-hour rental sit-on-top kayaks on the adjoining beach. A little hot right now — it was in the mid-90s at mid-afternoon — but an ideal way to spend the evening. Which we did, returning around 6:30 and taking out a tandem for an hour or so. We paddled west, checking out where we’d hiked earlier in the day. We paddled east down to the dam. We stopped occasionally, pulled our paddles and floated, watching the sky change from an oppressive haze-blue, to a muted yellow to blazing pink.read more
